Switzerland to return USD 15 million in stolen assets to Peru in landmark extrajudicial agreement

03. Dec 2018

Swiss authorities have executed an extrajudicial agreement signed between Peru and Montesinos' frontman.

Peruvian authorities and Víctor Venero Garrido, the main frontman of former presidential advisor Vladimiro Montesinos, signed an out-of-court settlement to return approximately USD 15 million from Switzerland to Peru. The money comes from corrupt dealings during the 1990s and the case has lasted 17 years. This is the third and largest of the five accounts located in Switzerland whose assets will be returned to Peru.

This is the first case in which the legal device of extrajudicial settlement has been applied for an asset recovery process in Peru. The agreement was signed in July 2018 and is currently being executed in Switzerland. It is hoped that the successful conclusion of this landmark case will serve as a model for mechanisms that allow fast, efficient resolution of asset recovery processes in cases of transnational corruption. The International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR), working through the country office of the Basel Institute on Governance in Peru, is proud to have participated in the process.